Farmers harvest tea in Son La province's Moc Chau district. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam exported 26,000 tonnes of tea in the firstquarter of 2019, earning turnover of 45 million USD, up 2.1 percent in volumeand 15.4 percent in value year on year, the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment’s Agro Processing and Market Development Authority (AgroTrade) hasannounced.
Pakistan contributed largely to the increase as it captured the lion’s share ofVietnamese tea with 34.5 percent.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs said that last year, Vietnam gained217.83 million USD from shipping more than 127,000 tonnes of tea overseas,falling 8.9 percent in volume and 4.4 percent in value.
Pakistan was the largest importer when itsplashed out 81.63 million USD on buying 38,213 tonnes of Vietnamese tea. Itwas followed by China’s Taiwan with imports of 18,573 tonnes worth 28.75million USD and Russia with 13,897 tonnes valued at 21.21 million USD.
According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), blacktea output is forecast to rise 2.2 percent each year in the next decade toreach 4.4 million tonnes by 2027. Meanwhile, green tea yield moves at a faster paceof 7.5 percent annually, and is set to hit 3.6 million tonnes by the year.
Consumption is expected to surge, mostly in China and India.
Experts said that Vietnamese companies should invest heavily in handmade teaand botanical tea, which are preferred by consumers today to raw green andblack tea.-VNA
VNA
